


Love Thy Neighbour

by Massing1



Category: NCIS
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-06
Updated: 2020-07-06
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:01:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25114309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Massing1/pseuds/Massing1
Summary: Gibbs to the rescue ...
Kudos: 10





	Love Thy Neighbour

Love Thy Neighbour 

Abby shook her head in despair. "How very Gibbs of you, Gibbs"

Gibbs shrugged innocently. "What? What did I do wrong this time? She altered my suit for me so I fixed her boiler. What's wrong with that?"

Abby looked dismayed for a moment. "Four wives and how many girlfriends and you still have no clue. Do you know what it takes to alter a whole suit in a day? That poor woman was probably up all night doing that for you and you thank her with a boiler."

He shrugged again. "She was cold." He countered defensively.

Abby, hands on her hips in disgust continued to rant. "A greasy, stinky, rattley old boiler Gibbs."

“It doesn’t rattle any more,” he muttered.

Abby ignored him. She pointed to a web page on her computer. A florist. "Do I have to do everything around here?! " 

**********

Grace stared across the desk at her patient. Something was different about him this morning.  
“Okay Gibbs, out with it. You're smiling. You never smile. Why are you smiling?”

“I'm smiling?”

She stared more intensely. The corners of his mouth definitely had a very slight upward curve. That was good enough for her. “Yes, there is definitely smiling going on. Now hurry up and tell me why.”

The smile broadened. The corners of his eyes joined in. “This is gonna sound crazy … “

“Trust me, I will tell you if it does. That’s my job.” Grace waved her hands in encouragement. “So, come on. Dish all ready.”

Gibbs laughed briefly and continued with his tale. “I met someone. She lives a block from me and it's nice.”

“And nice is a good thing here?” Asked Grace a little confused. “I might expect a new relationship to be exciting or scary or wild and sexy but for you this is just nice?”

“Yeah. It's soft and unassuming and relaxed and … nice. We went out for the first time the other night and it was like an old time date. We went to the movies. Then we had coffee at the diner and talked and ate cake. Then I walked her home. Like ... just being ... comfortable, like we've known each other for years. And it was …”

“Nice. Yes I get the picture.”

***************

His phone rang. He flipped it open mildly concerned - it was well passed midnight. “Hey, what's up?”

“Thank god you're home,” she cried in near hysteria. She lower her voice to a theatrical whisper. “I don't want him to hear me. I need help Gibbs.”

He snapped his phone shut, grabbed quickly at some clothes, checked his firearm and ran for the door. 

Moments later he arrived at her house. The door was locked. He urgently looked for another way in to no avail. His concern rising and wanting no further delay, he put his shoulder to the door and burst through - weapon drawn ready to face whatever foe had her so terrified. “NCIS. Freeze” he shouted authoritatively. 

She screamed at the sudden noise. She hopped up and down in pink fluffy pyjamas flapping her arms like a demented flamingo. Her crying even more hysterical. She ran to him and threw her arms around his waist hugging him tightly. She was shaking uncontrollably. 

He looked around. There was just the two of them. The place seemed normal enough, safe. There was no sign of anyone else. The situation was secure. He put his gun back in its holster with one hand whilst trying to calm the frightened woman with the other. “Hey, hey.” He tried to console her. “It's okay. You're safe now. Are they gone? Did they hurt you?”

She looked up at him. “Is who gone?”  
.  
“The intruder.”

She looked up at him sheepishly. “Oh is that what you thought?”

“Well yeah. That's what I’m trained to think when a woman is screaming for help at two in the morning.” He checked the ground floor once again. There’s no intruder?”

“Well, no. At least not the way you mean.” She sniffed and looked to the floor twisting the sleeve of her pyjamas like a small child. If he hadn't been so concerned, he might have thought it cute.

“Well what's the matter then? You had me worried.”

She answered almost inaudibly. “There’s a spider ... on my bed. On my pillow. I woke up to find it looking at me. I didn’t know what to do, so I called you.”

He looked heavenward “Really? All this for a spider?”

“It's a really big spider.” She stared timidly up the stairs. “I’m not staying up there again until I know it's gone.”

He looked towards the front door and then began to climb the stairs. “I’ll fix your door in the morning,” he said as he headed for her bedroom.  
He stood in the doorway. He’d never seen her bedroom before. Feminine but not too many frills or soft toys. The offending interloper was indeed on her pillow and Gibbs had to concede it was quite a big one. It sat there, staring at him in octagonal vision, tapping a front leg in challenge.

She cowered behind him clutching onto his shirt. A high pitched whine of distress gradually increasing in volume. He sighed. “Okay Gibbs,” he thought to himself, “Time to be a hero …”  
“C'mon buddy, this is between you and me now,” he said to the arachnid. “and you can bet I’m gonna win.” He headed towards the bed.

“Don't kill it!” She yelled.

“But you wanted it gone?” He threw over his shoulder.

“Gone yes, but not dead. Put it outside in the yard. It's where he came from.” 

Gibbs scooped the spider up and sealed it between his hands. He could feel it running around the space looking for an escape. “Not very likely, son.” He thought at it.  
“There, I’ve got it. D’ya wanna see?” he asked holding out his hands. A leg found its way out between his fingers. She squealed and backed away. He chuckled to himself. What was it with chicks and spiders?

He jogged down the stairs to the shattered door frame. Yeah, that it would only take the morning to put right. He threw the spider into the yard where it landed with a plop in a puddle. Now stay out Incy or you're getting squished next time. He brushed his hands together and headed back to his damsel in distress. 

“Is it gone?” she asked nervously.

“Yes, it's gone. You okay now?” She nodded from the top of the stairs. He noticed the pyjamas for the first time. Cute. 

“Are you going now?” She asked.

“That was the plan. I’ll come back in the morning and measure the door.”

“But what if he comes back? What if he brings a friends with him? ‘Cos they heard how easy it was to scare the silly old woman.”

Okay, that was cute too - especially with the pyjamas. He sighed. He looked at the door. It would mean leaving an unarmed woman alone in a house with no lockable door. He couldn't do that. He just couldn't. He turned around and followed her up the stairs. 

“The spider won't come back you know,” He reiterated. “And he won't bring his friends. And you're not a silly old woman … You're a silly middle aged woman.”

“That's not making me feel better, you know.” She replied sarcastically. Then a thought crossed her mind. “Will you check under the bed in case his friends are already there?”

“There are no more spiders in here!” he shouted in exasperation. He climbed onto the bed put his gun on the night stand and kicked off his shoes. He held out his arms towards her.  
“Come on over here.” She grinned self consciously and snuggled into him. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. “I’ll stay here and protect you from the spider and his friends and his friends' uncles if it helps. Now close your eyes. It's late.”

“Thank you” She said quietly.

“That's okay.” He kissed her head again. This time taking a moment to smell her hair. It smelled nice. Like apples.


End file.
